Director Steven Spielberg called New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie a “hero” for embracing President Barack Obama when Obama visited New Jersey in Hurricane Sandy’s wake.

“He was able to put party politics aside for the greater good. And the fact that he would, right at the end of the election cycle, tell the truth about his gratitude — he was my hero,” Spielberg toldThe Hollywood Reporter.

Obama supporters, like Spielberg, believe Christie’s embrace of Obama helped the president in the polls, especially since Christie keynoted the Republican National Convention and had been critical of Obama. The embrace allowed the partisan Obama to have a “bipartisan” moment with voters during the final moments of the campaign.

Spielberg donated $1 million to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA which unleashed an ad essentially blaming Mitt Romney for the death of a women suffering from cancer. The “Jaws” director also advised the Obama campaign about how to effectively use Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital against him in the general election. After the campaign, Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina revealed Spielberg had consulted the campaign in other ways, urging them to, among other things, “blow up” the 2008 model during a meeting with Messina “early” in the 2012 campaign cycle.

The mainstream media, like they did with Sen. John McCain before the 2008 presidential election and Mitt Romney before the 2012 presidential election, are also trying to build up Christie for a potential 2016 presidential run only to tear him down — if he gets the nomination. Should Christie somehow win the presidency, the mainstream media senses he — like McCain and Romney — would not govern as a conservative, which makes Christie one of their favorite Republicans.

Recently, Chris Matthews said he wanted to see “Hillary Clinton versus Chris Christie” in 2016 and told a panel of mainstream media journalists on “The Chris Matthews Show” that such a contest would be “just a joyful occasion for us all” while the panelists were nodding in agreement.